The invention relates generally to development of a symbolic vocabulary and more specifically to development and use of symbols to enhance communication and understanding between individuals and groups within an ethnic or racial group or between diverse cultural backgrounds.
In many aspects of our everyday lives, we encounter people from different cultural or ethnic backgrounds, or those with the same background but of different generations. This is true in virtually every social, community and business setting. These settings include multinational companies or single companies having workers from diverse backgrounds, public and civic planning sessions, community meetings or gatherings to discuss and decide various issues important to the participants, and philanthropy work for addressing or improving the growth and development of groups, families and communities. For purposes of this application and for the following discussion, the term culture refers to the underlying life force of a community (composed of a specific leadership formation, cultural virtues, structure and spaces, premises, and social centers of gravity); and community means a collection of individuals grouped together by political, geographic, social, business, recreational, religious, or spiritual ties, or other shared interest(s) or motivation(s).
Individuals among whom effective communication is desired may have different backgrounds, which could interfere with efficient, accurate and effective communication. Sometimes the interference is minimal while at other times the interference prohibits real communication. A prohibition of real communication is not just an inconvenience to the individuals. Lack of real communication can create misunderstandings and an impasse among individuals. Without communication, the person may not see the strengths and assets of other persons or other cultures and communities. These strengths and assets are not assets like money or other tangible currency; many times they are far more valuable and yet invisible. These assets include human capital, social capital and the positive and beneficial practices and behaviors of a community. Both sides lose more than just the lack of a conversation might suggest.
The problems with communication among diverse cultural and ethnic groups are well known, yet there have not been any effective solutions to date. Prior art solutions include use of mediators, development and use of a common language among the group members (e.g., Esperanto), use of an experienced translator, and use of empathy to “get into the other's shoes.” All of these rely on verbal and oral skills of the participants as well as of the ‘outsider.’ Unfortunately, that which is unspoken is not necessarily communicated accurately, if at all.
One reason that these solutions have been ineffective is that they fail to account for the context, the meaning of words, implicit premises, and motivations (both expressed and implicit) used by all the participants of a dialogue. Often there are many assumptions and unspoken understandings that are implicated in a speaker's choice of words. Reliance solely on the spoken language results in individuals taking different points of view and generally not having a common frame of reference. This form of communication is inadequate unless both the speaker and the listener share similar operative assumptions, postulates, and motivations, or at least understand them. Anthropologists Hsiao-Tung Fei and Chih-I Chang in Earthbound China: A Study of Rural Economy in Yunnan (1945:81–82) made this observation:                Human behavior is always motivated by certain purposes, and these purposes grow out of sets of assumptions which are not usually recognized by those who hold them. The basic premises of a particular culture are unconsciously accepted by the individual through his constant and exclusive participation in that culture. It is these assumptions—the essence of all the culturally conditioned purposes, motives, and principles—which determine the behavior of a people, underlie all the institutions of a community, and give them unity This, unfortunately, is the most elusive aspect of culture. Since it is taken for granted by the people, the student will not find it formulated verbally. On the contrary, it must usually be inferred from concrete behavior, a process which requires a certain insight on the part of the observer.        
In any of the existing processes for communication, as soon as ideas are discussed, the focus is on understanding the word or phrase, and generally we don't have an opportunity to understand the context within which ideas germinate. But it is difficult to have a discussion where both the points that the person wants to make, the context, and the definition or the meaning of words are uncovered at the same general period of time. In a discussion, the primary function is an interchange of points of view. This interchange takes precedent over the deconstruction of words in the context of the person's culture. Intercultural specialists have tried to address this problem by structuring the interchange process and by providing more background information about the cultures of the different communities prior to the interchange. But these structures and background materials generally add yet another layer to an already complicated situation. It doesn't unleash the participants to express themselves spontaneously and fully. For many ideas and precepts, much energy and time may be devoted to understanding individual words or phrases used in the interchanges. This use of energy and time, however, interferes with communication of the message and fails to provide context and clarity to the message. Additional efforts would need to be initiated to explain and understand the context and to maintain clarity. Generally, very few people could devote the necessary energy and time to convey on one hand and to learn on the other hand the specific meanings of the words and phrases while maintaining the clarity and context and timeliness of the message to be conveyed. Sole reliance on oral/verbal skills is believed to be inadequate to truly understanding communications from someone from a different culture.
Model building has been used extensively in the prior art. Hobbyists often use models to replicate an object or event. Architects use models to make proposals concerning a design of a building or other structure. Psychologists use models as a tool for individual therapy. Strategists and tacticians may use models to represent a battle or war.